UT programs linked to upcoming concerts

Today is All Soul's Day, a time for remembrance of people who have left this earthly plane. In stories of the departed, artists find inspiration for works to help us discern what is truly important in our lives.

At the University of Toledo, a series of programs devised to help introduce the Toledo Symphony's next Classics Series concerts (Nov. 16-17) taps some of that wisdom expressed by important artists such as Goethe, Beethoven, Stravinsky, and Penderecki. The symphony program will comprise music by the last three inspired by Goethe's literature.

Friday night at 7, a rare screening of the David Lynch film Inland Empire is set to begin in the Haigh Auditorium of the Center for Visual Arts at the Toledo Museum of Art. Jeanne Kusina, a philosophy professor and film scholar, will introduce the film, which boasts a score by Krzysztof Penderecki. (His Concerto Grosso for Three Cellos is on the symphony program.)

Digging into Faust, Daniel Compora of the UT English department will explore how the theme shows up in works of many cultures. The talk is at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Libbey Hall on the main campus.

Finally, a look at how composer Igor Stravinsky tapped Russia's deep vein of folklore for many of his signature works -- especially "A Soldier's Tale," to be performed by the orchestra with dramatic and balletic elements directed by Cornel Gabara, associate professor of theater -- is set for 7 p.m. Nov. 13 in Libbey Hall. Christopher Williams of the UT music department will lecture.

All the events are free.

Opera is back at UT after a long, long intermission. Dean Debra A. Davis announces the first production of the season, Murder, Mayhem, & The Medium, a program shaped, created, and directed by Denise Ritter Bernardini, assistant professor of voice.

Several short opera classics will open for the Gian-Carlo Menotti feature, which will be staged by Gabara. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Nov. 9 and 10 in the Studio Theatre of the Center for Performing Arts. Admission is free but donations will be encouraged. To reserve a seat, call the UT music department, 419-530-2448.

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The Toledo Symphony's Blade Chamber Series will continue Sunday with a 7 p.m. concert in the Toledo Club. Music by Rossini, Garfield, and Brahms is on the program. Cellist Renee Goubeaux and bassist William McDevitt will play Rossini's Duo for Cello and Double Bass, followed by Garfield's Bassoon Quartet No. 1, with bassoonist Gareth Thomas, and strings Merwin Siu, Valentin Ragusitu, and Robert Clemens.

Brahms String Quartet No. 3 will wrap up this program, performed by Kirk Toth, Siu, Timothy Zeithamel, and Martha Reikow. Tickets are $30-$35 at 419-246-8000 or www.toledosymphony.com.

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Mu Phi Epsilon, the music fraternity, will celebrate its Founder's Day with a free program at 3 p.m. Sunday in the UT Center for Performing Arts recital hall. Performers will be Michael Boyd, Elaine Moore, and Nathanael Leonard, joined by singers Sarah Jay and Spencer Wilhelm. .

Conductor, composer, musician, and radio personality Bill McGlaughlin will be on the Bowling Green State University campus for this year's Dorothy and DuWayne Hansen Series. McGlaughlin's weekday radio program, "Exploring Music," is broadcast at 11 a.m. on WGTE-FM 91 and across the country. The genial and informed host discusses and plays music during weeklong themed series which run the gamut of subjects.

A free evening for the public to engage with McGlaughlin is set for 7 p.m. Wednesday in Kobacker Hall of the Moore Musical Arts Center.

The BGSU Graduate String Quartet will perform in the free Music in the Manor House series concert at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in Wildwood Preserve Metropark.

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The Paul Taylor 2 dance company will make its Toledo debut in an 8 p.m. concert Nov. 9 in the Valentine Theatre. It was formed in 1993 to enable more audiences to see the work of Paul Taylor, a pioneering modern dance choreography. The ensemble will bring to the stage versions of Taylor's original works, including his signature piece, "Esplanade."

Tickets are $26-$42 at www.valentinetheatre.org or 419-242-2787.

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Celtic harpist and storyteller Patrick Ball will be in the area the weekend of Nov. 9-10 for two performances of his latest creation, Legends of the Celtic Harp.

Ball will return to Trinity Episcopal Church, 316 Adams St., for a 7 p.m. performance Nov. 9. Joining Ball in performance will be Lisa Lynne and Aryeh Frankfuter, who play the bouzouki, mandolin, cittern, and Swedish nyckelharpa.

The free concert is sponsored by the Northwest Ohio Chapter of the American Harp Society.

Ball and company also are to perform at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 10 at Firelands Presbyterian Church, 2626 East Harbor Rd., Sandusky. Tickets are $15 at the door, free for students. For more information, go to www.firelandschurch.org or call 419-734-6211.

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If you just can't wait for the Toledo Opera's production of Don Giovanni in February, get a preview at the University of Michigan School of Music Opera Theatre, which is to present the Verdi classic Nov. 8-11 in the Power Center for the Performing Arts, 121 North Fletcher St., Ann Arbor.

U-M music professor Robert Swedberg will direct with Christopher James Lees conducting the University Symphony Orchestra. The opera will be sung in Italian with projected English translations. Showtimes are 7:30 p.m. Nov. 8, 8 p.m. Nov. 9 and 10, and 2 p.m. Nov. 11. Tickets are $10-$26 at 734-764-2538 or tickets.music.umich.edu.

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It's Edgefest season at Kerrytown Concert House this week, with a generous selection of recitals and concerts spanning jazz, classical, and theater music at the historic hall, 415 N. Fourth Ave., Ann Arbor.

A parade starts at noon on Saturday through the Kerrytown neighborhood with musicians and middle school students led by Wadada Leo Smith. That day, the first program begins at 2 p.m., Jaribu Shahid and Friends in A Tribute to Faruq Z. Bey. The Smith Quartet will perform Ten Freedom Summers Part II at 4 p.m. that day, with the Mary Redhouse duo to follow at 7 p.m. Music will continue at 8:30 and 10 p.m. in St. Andrews' Episcopal Church.

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Kudos to Toledo Symphony principal horn Sandra Clark, resident conductor Jeffrey Pollock, and other orchestra musicians for a successful launch of this season's Mozart & More Series at the Franciscan Center last Saturday.

Clark performed the very difficult Richard Strauss Concerto for Horn No. 1 with great accuracy, artistry, and spirit, supported by her fellow players.

Pollock and the ensemble rocked the Haydn Symphony No. 104 (London), playing it crisply with wonderful sophistication and elegance.

Items for News of Music should be sent to svallongo@theblade.com at least two weeks ahead of the event.